BritCan Television
BritCan Television is an American digital cable and satellite television network that is owned by BritCan Communications. The network first began broadcasting as Brit-Can Network on January 5, 1998; it rebranded as BNT: BritCan Network Television on February 19, 2007, converting into a general entertainment network featuring mainly recent and older acquired programs; the network adopted its current identity as BritCan Television on September 28, 2009, rebranding with an emphasis on general entertainment. History As Brit-Can Network (1998 - 2007) On January 5, 1998 at 7:00 a.m. EST, Brit-Can Network launched with an episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, followed by its first series: the early morning/breakfast show The Wake Up Call. At the time, launch programming included original series, as well as off-network syndicated sitcoms and drama, such as Sliders, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Doogie Howser, M.D., ALF, Mork & Mindy, Family Ties, Laverne & Shirley, Happy Days and Who's the Boss?. At the time of its launch, Brit-Can Network was a premium channel that aired for 16 hours a day, from 7:00 a.m.- 11:00 p.m. EST/PST. During its first full year, the channel was available to more than 532,000 subscribers in the U.S.A. In March 2000, the channel extended its programming day to 18 hours a day by adding two hours to its late night schedule, with the channel now broadcasting daily from 7:00 - 1:00 a.m. EST/PST. On March 30, 2001, Brit-Can Network began broadcasting 24 hours a day. On March 30, 2001, coinciding with the shift to 24 hours a day, Brit-Can Network expanded its programming offerings with the premiere of several original series, with the removal of the older series, such as "Early Bird" (an early morning talk show), "The Coffee Table" (a daytime pop culture and social media talk show), "America Today" (a newsmagazine show), and "Lounge" (a late night talk show hosted live from its headquarters in New York City, NY). Later, in June, BritCan Communications the launch of BritCan Two, a new sister service to Brit-Can Network, which would provide more of an "intellectual" style of programming, similar to BBC Two in the UK. The channel launched on August 6, 2001. After its launch, a format in which a program on either one of the channels would broadcast on the other (in this case, the main BritCan channel and BritCan Two) was implemented. From 2003 to 2007, and from 2008 and beyond, Brit-Can began to air various general entertainment programming on weekdays from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. and weekends from 4 to 11 p.m. EST/PST. The schedule change was the after effect of an attempt to convert Brit-Can Network into a fully-fledged broadcast television network. As BNT: BritCan Network Television (2007-09) On June 28, 2005, BritCan Communications announced that it would rebrand Brit-Can Network as BNT: BritCan Network Television, in order to reflect a new strategy of "providing an independent broadcast platform for various producers". The rebranding affect took place on February 19, 2007, as the channel's on-air presentation was dramatically changed. Once relaunched as BNT, its library expanded to show more generalist programming (such as news reports, documentaries, and newsmagazine shows). The presentation of the channel was also updated, having being filmed in Studio H9C at BritCan Center as of 2008. The network commissioned 78 half-hours of informational content in the form of paid programming, occupying a late night/very early morning time slot, replacing the double broadcast of Early Bird ''at 4 a.m. and moving it to 8 a.m. EST/PST. Rumors arised that BNT would eventually convert back into a premium channel and have cutbacks in network programming. However, this was found false by the company. '''As BritCan Television (2009-present)' BritCan Communications announced the channel's renaming to 'BritCan Television '''in 2008. An updated look for the channel created by '''Red Bee Media '''was launched on September 28, 2009, featuring similar graphics used by BBC One in the UK, as a part of a refocusing effort. Since then, channel began to focus more on offering a wide range of general entertainment, as well as high-quality premium-based programmming. Progarmming ''Main article: List of programs broadcast by BritCan Television Prior to its relaunch as BritCan Television in September 2009, Brit-Can Network (and the early run of BNT in 2007) was mainly a syndication program service, relying heavily of repeats of pre-2000 series. However, starting in 2009, the network began to focus more on general entertainment, with most of its archival material relegated to graveyard slots and primetime weekend marathons, which was later dropped in 2013. Category:TV Channels Category:BritCan Television Category:BritCan Communications